Nostrom Custodimus a Tenabris, We Watch From the Shadows
by Alpha Mike
Summary: After the Anglo-American Bio Terrorism Incident, World Leaders decided that the UN was not strong enough to maintain peace. The most powerful nations of the Security Council met in secret to discuss plans for a response unit capable of detecting and preventing future incidents. An unexpected threat from beyond Earth places this unit in league with the shadowy Hellsing organization.
1. Prologue

Hey all, Alpha Mike here. I've thoroughly enjoyed Hellsing in all its forms, and always felt that Seras should have more of a spot light than she was given. Now, this may be a caffeine induced stroke of 5 AM autism, but I was playing Xcom while reading a Hellsing fan fic and decided instantly that the two needed to be mixed. I've written short stories in the past, but never a full length story, so any pointers will be well appreciated. Thanks in advance for reading the opening pages. The story will be taking place 2 years after the Anglo-American Bio Terrorism Incident, and the fruition of the Major's ingenious plan to defeat Alucard. Now, the governments of the world race to contain the information of an imminent alien invasion whilst the secret XCOM organization does its best to combat the threat. Inevitably the worlds of the supernatural and the alien will intertwine when operatives from both Hellsing and XCOM meet in England as both believe a situation is their brand of weird following a rash of abductions by seemingly inhuman creatures.

Prologue

 **Natalia**

To most passers by, Commander Natalia Stukhov didn't look particularly imposing. Roughly 5' 6", Maybe 120lbs, and a soft featured face framed by shoulder length blonde hair that looked like it would be more at home on a Hollywood actress than a former Spetsnaz sniper. Despite being the youngest candidate for the project by nearly 15 years, she had more combat experience and tactical acumen than most of the others combined. The deciding factor though, was her ingenuity. Time and time again she had turned disaster into victory by the most unlikely or innocuous means. For this project, the ability to adapt was needed. A fresh perspective on warfare, to face a threat the world had only imagined. It was a terrible weight and burden, but one she would bear gladly.

"Bradford, status report." She stated simply as she stopped beside him overlooking mission control.

A representative from the US army, Lieutenant Bradford had only recently graduated from West Point, but was nominated for the project for his superb administrative talent and quick thinking.

"The engineers have completed the upper levels ahead of schedule and ground has already been broken on sub level 1. All systems are operating at forty percent capacity and are expected to be fully operational by the end of the week." Bradford pauses for a moment as he consults his data pad.

"All interceptors are on station and awaiting orders, and nearly all the recruits have arrived. They're currently on stand by in the barracks."

The commander nodded curtly as she examined the roster. "Good. Keep me informed."

She glanced over the roster for perhaps the hundredth time since she'd been briefed on her new command. She knew the names of all her troops and pilots, but she wanted to know as much about her squad leaders before the first operation as possible.

Alpha Squad, made up of men and women mostly from American and British special forces was led by Captain Alan Blake, a MARSOC operator who had seen 4 tours in Afghanistan, and carried out more than 20 successful black ops. Beyond the various commendations for valor, there was little to know about how he actually worked since the americans insisted on maintaining the mission files as classified. As for the team themselves, they were primarily trained in anti terrorist tactics. Skilled in combatting guerilla forces in both urban and desert terrain. One of the entries always caught her eye though, a Cedric Smith. He had no special forces training like the others, but had been recommended quite highly by the English during the initial stages of the project. He was a mercenary from a group called the Wild Geese who saw action in London during the Anglo-American Bio Terrorism Incident 2 years ago.

Bravo Squad she was much more familiar with. Led by Captain Boris Petrovich, this squad was made up almost entirely of former Spetsnaz, as well as 2 chinese engineers. Boris was a solid leader, but he lacked imagination and tended to use brute force and firepower to overcome his opponents. Despite this, he had a record as an inspiring leader to the men underneath him and was well known for his bold, but undeniably affective assault tactics. As a whole they were well suited for demolitions, and combatting hard targets.

She always scowled as she turned to the third page, both because of the fact she currently only had three squads at her command, and because she detested Major Karl Wolf. It had been her first operation, an assassination of a high ranking terrorist that had attacked both Berlin and Moscow. The then Captain Wolf had been assigned to assist in the operation. Bad intel and poor communication led to her squad mate and friend catching one of Wolf's rounds. She had never forgiven him, but she was not so prideful as to turn away such an accomplished leader. His squad of was the most varied with troops from Spain, France, Denmark, Germany, and Poland.

Lastly she looked over the equipment registry, noting the plentiful small arms and ammunition as well as the state of the art body armor and communication equipment. For some reason unfathomable to the commander, the council had seen fit to supply her with enough gear for a battalion while only providing her with 30 soldiers. No matter how strongly she willed it otherwise, the roster always showed the pitiful numbers of the organization. 12 F-35 fighters, 3 Challenger-2 MBT's, 2 Skyranger drop ships, and 30 soldiers. As advanced and skilled as her forces were, she didn't see how much of a difference they could make on a planetary scale, but she'd be damned if she didn't find out.

With a sigh she handed the roster back to Bradford.

"This is going to be a long fight."


	2. Chapter 1: Reverie

Chapter 1: Reverie

 **Seras**

Seras lay in the shade of a tall oak in the front lawn of the Hellsing Estate. Though she could walk about in the daylight, the sun always irritated her. It was like the feeling of your arm falling asleep, but over her whole body. It slowed her down, and weakened her. Despite the fact she could still outrun a car, and punch a 4 foot crater through concrete she felt like she was moving through water compared to how freely she moved in the night. The old oak afforded her some slight comfort as she watched the clouds and listened to the birds and other animals about the grounds. She always enjoyed these short reprieves between missions. It was like she was almost human again. That was until she stretched her limbs and looked at her left arm. Despite the fact it looked like any normal human arm, she couldn't feel it the way she could the rest of her body. It was merely a facade. Beneath the illusion of flesh it was a writhing mass of shadows. A manifestation of her powers after the horrors of London 2 years ago. For a moment she let the image fade away and watched the slow snaking movements of the shadows.

As she sat up she saw a man approaching her from the manor. He wore the uniform of a Hellsing soldier, but he wasn't one that she recognized. Must be one of the new recruits after the disaster in York last month. The thought saddened her as she remembered all the men and women who died there. It was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission, but they had walked right into a vampire ambush.

"Miss uh.. Miss Victoria?" He asked nervously as he reached her. For a moment she was confused, until she saw he was staring at her arm, and sweat was covering his brow.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She laughed as her arm once more looked human and she stood up to greet him.

"Oh, no you didn't, I was just uh.. Erm.. " He took a breath to steady himself as he looked back up from her arm to her face where he was struck by the strange contrast between the innocent beauty of her face, and the bright crimson of her eyes that seemed as though they pierced him through and through. "Ni-Nicholas Ha-Haytham" He stammered, holding out a hand as he glanced down away from those piercing orbs. "Sergeant Nicholas Haytham. I was asked by Sir Integra to tell you she wants to see you in her study."

Seras was caught off guard by the offer of his hand, most of the new soldiers were either in awe of her, or terrified of her. This fellow seemed to be a bit of both. She also thought it odd that Sir Integra would send a messenger instead of simply calling her. After a moment she decided there was no point dwelling on it, Integra had her reasons for doing things after all.

"Oh, thanks." She said as she shook his hand, careful not to grip to tightly. "I'll go to her straight away."

She stepped past him to make her way to the manor, as she remembered something.

"I almost forgot, welcome to Hellsing!" She called over her shoulder as she dashed toward the door.

Sergeant Haytham was left dumbfounded and mouth agape as the young woman was there one moment and suddenly gone the next with nothing but the fading call of her welcome left behind.

He let out a low whistle as he returned to his post inside the manor. "What have I gotten myself into?


	3. Chapter 2: Never a Dull Moment

Chapter 2: Never a Dull Moment

 **Seras**

Seras forced herself to slow down after the second painting that got caught up in her wake and blown off the wall. She shook her head as she picked it up and replaced it on the wall.

 _"You'd think you'd have learned by now ma cherie." She heard the familiar chuckle of Pip in the back of her mind._

"I don't know if I'll ever learn Pip. As soon as I think I've found the limit, it seems like my eyes open to something new." For a moment she stopped walking as her thoughts strayed to her old master. "I can't do a fraction of the things Alucard could, but every day I find myself closer and closer... It scares me that I might be like him someday."

 _"That's no way to talk ma cherie. He killed because he enjoyed it. You only do what has to be done. The day is to beautiful to mope like this, come on. Let us see what Integra wants."_

She couldn't help but smile at Pip's reassurances, sometimes she thought that his voice in her head was the only thing that kept her going after the horrors of London.

As she rounded the corner leading to Sir Integra's study Seras couldn't help but feel a little down. The moment they saw her the two soldiers guarding the door immediately tensed up, and she could sense their unease. It was almost always like this until the new soldiers had gotten used to her, regardless of what the old hands might say, she was still a vampire. Still a monster in their eyes.

She nodded to them as she stepped up to knock on the door, and to their credit they at least returned the greeting, albeit while fondling the safeties on their rifles. Just before her fist met the door however, a titanic outburst rang down the hall.

"YOU CAN'T SERIOUSLY BE GOING THROUGH WITH THIS CARTER!"

Sir Integra's voice boomed from inside. Seras hesitated, not wanting to draw that ire down on her own head.

"IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU DO THIS WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A SINGLE REASON, THEN YOU HAVEN'T MET ME CARTER!"

Seras steeled herself after the crash of the phone being violently hung up, and timidly knocked on the door.

"Enter!"

With a deep breath -Why do I still do that? It's not as though my lungs work...- With a mental shrug Seras pushed open the doors and walked across the thick carpeted floor to stand before Sir Integra's desk. The infamous leader of the Hellsing organization sat in a high backed chair facing the window away from Seras, with a cloud of cigar smoke drifting up above her. The phone lay in a pile of scrap against the far wall.

"You asked to see me, sir?

It was a long time before Sir Integra turned her chair around to look at Seras, and as always she couldn't help but stand a little straighter and gulp as those steely eyes met her own. Regardless of how powerful Seras may have been, the presence and will of Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was a force to be reckoned with. A woman who had led the secret organization from the age of twelve. A mere mortal who had stood her ground against a veritable army of Waffen-SS vampires and lived. A woman who commanded the respect and obedience of Alucard, the No-Life King. Though she could dodge bullets, and hurl a tank 200 yards, Seras felt small and insignificant before Sir Integra.

"Seras, there's a situation developing that needs your attention." Integra paused to take a long draw from her cigar. "A recon team has missed their last two check ins."

"Why hasn't the response team gone in already?"

Seras realized she'd hit a sore subject as Integra scowled, and snapped her cigar in a white knuckled grip.

"... Sir Carter has seen fit to requisition most of our experienced soldiers as well as a portion of our funding." Integra spat as she hurled the ruined cigar away and quickly lit another. "The only troops we currently have available are fresh recruits. Untested against the undead. So, I need someone I can trust to take them in.

"But, Sir. They don't trust me yet. They all act like I might eat them at any moment. They'll be looking over their shoulder the entire time instead of worrying about the enemy." Seras protested before she realized she'd just interrupted Sir Integra.

"They need to learn eventually, and they might as well get used to fighting beside you." Seeing Seras about to protest again, Integra fixed her with a cold stare until the vampiress bit her lip and nodded.

"Good." Integra puffed on her cigar as she opened a report. "Now, the reports show numerous disappearances, and local CCTV's show impossibly fast humanoids in the area's of the disappearances. The local authorities attribute it to tampering, or poor electronics, but we know the truth. Sergeant Dowel's squad was dispatched to reconoiter the area two days ago, and have been closing in on the vampire's nest. Unfortunately they haven't responded to recent communication attempts."

Seras knew she couldn't argue any further, so she might as well learn all she can.

"Alright. Where are we going?"

The end of Integra's cigar glowed brighter as she inhaled before looking up at Seras.

"Cheddar."


	4. Chapter 3: All Roads Lead to Cheddar

Chapter 3: All Roads Lead to Cheddar

 **Natalia**

From the moment the klaxon sounded at 0400 it took Natalia less than 5 minutes to reach mission control.

"Commander on deck!" Was called as she strode in and the gathering of technicians and soldiers snapped to attention.

"At ease. Bradford, sit rep."

"We've just received these reports from MI-5, Commander. Multiple disappearances and possible camera footage of thin-men. The reports are coming in from the town of Cheddar, roughly 150 miles west of London." He replied as they made their way toward the main control console.

Thin-men. She hated those things. They were so close to mimicking mankind, yet at the same time there was obviously something wrong with them. Able to clear three story buildings with a single leap, and spit a cloud of toxic gas nearly thirty yards the initial encounter with them had led to the loss of nearly every member of the newly formed Delta Squad.

"Get Alpha suited up and ready, full MOPP gear. Wheels up in 15 minutes. What's the status of Bravo and Charlie?"

"Performing post-op perimeter checks outside Rio de Janeiro, Ma'am. Three casualties reported."

Externally she simply pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, but she was mentally raging about the lack of troops that the council was committing to her effort despite the praise they'd given her thus far. Couldn't they see that she was only picking off small scout teams and researchers? Imaging showed hundreds of vessels around the planet, some of them kilometers long. The only ones she'd dealt with so far were no larger than 50 meters across carrying scientific equipment and mostly non combatants. Not to mention the insistence on secrecy. World wide, governments were censoring the media and doing their best to keep the public in the dark. It was only a matter of time before the truth got out though, and until it did, her job was made all the more difficult.

"I want Watchdog 1 and 2 on standby in the area. Get Delta prepped and ready for QRF, and alert the English that we're in bound."

"Aye aye, Commander."

 **Blake**

For the ninth time Blake ran through the function check for his rifle. Pull the charging handle. Flick the safety. Pull trigger. Flick to semi. Pull trigger, hold it. Pull the charging handle. Let go of the trigger. Pull the trigger. Flick to burst. Pull the charging handle. Hold the trigger. Rack the charging handle twice. Weapon on safe.

Just like every other time, the weapon checked out. It clicked where it was supposed to click. The safety was functional. All it needed were the rounds. Blake idly thumbed the end of a casing as he examined one of his magazines. He couldn't shake the image that always seemed to be burning at the back of his mind. There they were, back in Colorado. A UFO had been splashed by the US Air Force and been contained, but they requested XCOM to carry out the ground operation. It was supposed to be simple. Sweep and clear, capture any survivors of the crash. They weren't counting on the thin-men. Lightning fast, leaping 20 or 30 yards through the trees all around them. He could here Delta on the radio. They were getting shredded, but he had his own squad to worry about. There it was. His squad. The men and women who served under him were everything. His family. He could still see her. Corporal Janice Freemont, a young girl from California, a corpsman who'd served with the Navy Seals. She was dazed from a near hit by a plasma bolt that whizzed by her head. He had the thin man in his sights as the alien leveled it's weapon at her. Blake squeezed the trigger a fraction of a second before the alien weapon began to glow. A misfire. The rifle clicked and clicked, but failed to fire. By the time he'd drawn his side arm and dropped the alien it was too late. Freemont was gone. A smoking whole the size of a soft ball punched clean through her chest. All in all, he'd lost 4 of his brothers and sisters that day. Delta lost 8.

"5 minutes to the drop zone!" Came the static filled voice of the pilot over the intercom.

Snapping out of his dark thoughts the Captain looked about the cabin at his team. 10 of the best and brightest soldiers in the world. But then again, so were the rest of XCOM. And skill and experience can only carry you so far against an enemy like the aliens. Every one of them was loading their weapons, a cacophony of metallic sounds filled the air despite the roar of the skyranger's engines as the men and women of Alpha squad checked and rechecked their gear. From the front to the back they were seated in squad order. At the front sat Grant and Smith, his two point men. They were best of the best when it came to CQC, and they excelled at the split second decision making that made the difference when storming a building. Smith caught his attention though, as the man was glancing nervously out the view port and kept fiddling with the large silver knife he kept attached to his vest beside his K bar. Blake always wondered why the mercenary carried the thing, not much use compared to steel. It was too soft. Seated behind them were Mama and Papa bear. Kayla and Vincent Flannigan, they rounded out the squad's fire power with a pair of modified 249 machine guns. Paladin 5, a Lance Corporal Brandon Kern was their newest member, the young man hadn't seen combat with the aliens, but he'd served as a medic on several green beret operations. Blake felt confident in him however, he had Mcarthy, the squad's senior medic watching over him. 7 always gave him pause. Marcus Sanders had been MARSOC like him, but prior to XCOM the two had never met. He hardly ever talked outside of missions, and even then was blunt and concise. No one could argue with his skill behind a sniper rifle though, the one everyone called Spider could be off setting to be around, but every one of them was glad he was watching over them. Finally bringing up the rear were 8 and 9, Corporals Adam Taylor and Gavin Lasky were both prior Army Ranger and superb rifleman, like Kern though neither of them had fought against the aliens yet. They seemed ready, but he wouldn't know until the plasma and bullets were in the air.

"I know we all got the mission brief, but lets be clear. We are going up against thin-men down here. So, eyes up, watch the roof tops and the windows. Tests show that the filters on your masks will only offer about a minute of protection before thin man toxin eats through them, so don't take your chances. Watch each others' backs, and keep an eye on Big Sky." He shouted down the aisle over the engines. "We'll be operating within the city limits, check your fire. We don't want any collateral damage down there. Now, lets get in there. Vigilo Confido!"

"Vigilo Confido!" They responded, pounding their chests as they stood to line up by the hatch.

"Command, this is Paladin-actual, standing by for your orders."

"Reading you five by five Paladin-actual, you have the green light. Deploy Big Sky and carry out the mission." Bradford's voice came in clear over the radio.

As the order was given dozens of flashes erupted from the belly of the skyranger as it crunched down on a dirt road quarter mile from the edge of Cheddar. A veritable horde of humming bird sized drones filled the air and took up a grid over the squad, each one sending a live feed to the skyranger, and more importantly to XCOM HQ.

The landing was textbook. The troops of Alpha squad secured a perimeter around the LZ, and formed up to move as the dropship lifted off again. Maintaining radio silence Blake motioned for Paladin 7, 8, and 9 to secure the old parish at the top of the hill and provide over watch. Like clock work the squad began moving towards the town. He watched as Paladin 7 grappled his way up to the bell tower. The new grapple equipped skeleton armor only backed up everyone's insistence on calling him Spider. He knew 8 and 9 would feel like they were on the milk run side of the mission guarding the sniper, but time and again he'd seen the aliens try to find and kill his squad's guardian angel.

With Big Sky showing a bird's eye view of the route to Cheddar, he focused on the task at hand. He quickly signaled for the squad to fan out in a 15 meter spread and advance towards the city outskirts. It was time to show these invaders they came to the wrong planet.


	5. Chapter 4: Last Call

Chapter 4: Last Call

 **Seras**

It was nearing dawn as the two unmarked black trucks pulled to a stop outside of a pub on the north side of Cheddar and a dozen armed men along with a young blonde woman wearing a red coat stepped out and moved down the street.

"Ey Mac, what you figure this is?" One asked nervously waving his tankard towards the window.

"I'd say some poor bastards bout to get his door beat down. Ain't none of our business though. Sides, gives me a 'scuse fer the missus."

"To right... I wouldn't mind getting arrested by her none too much though if ye catch my meanin, haha." The other man remarked loud enough for the other patrons to hear, trying to lighten the atmosphere as they all looked at the strange woman who seemed to be in charge of the men outside.

"Looks a little young to be in charge of a group o' cops though. Specially the guys with the big guns like that. Hell, she's got the biggest one out of the lot."

Seras sighed as she walked at the front of the team. One downside of her enhanced hearing was that it wasn't very selective. Regardless of whether it was mouse, a creeping vampire, or a lewd drunk she heard them crystal clear from a hundred paces. Something was off here though, she could feel it. Typically when a vampire has been somewhere it left a mark. Like a dark stain on the world around it, a scar upon the natural order. This was usually something she could feel right away, but as far as she could tell she was the only one who'd been here in quite some time.

"Haytham, take you team west and head for the warehouse where the recon team was set up. Search for anything that might point to what happened to them." She glanced back to see his acknowledgement as he and his men moved out. The relief they felt was visible clear as day despite the masks and bulky body armor that covered them.

Looking to each of the four men still with her, Seras could see they were strung tighter than a bow string, ready to snap at a moment's notice. This was their first time on the hunt for actual vampires, and here they were following the orders of the very monster they were charged with killing.

"Come on, we'll be checking out the watermill. According to the reports from the recon team that's where they believed the vampires were holed up."

There was a moments hesitation as the soldiers looked at each other before taking up their positions. Seras worried more and more by the minute. That was the kind of hesitation that led to dead friends. This was going to be dangerous, whoever these vampires were, they'd most likely killed Gordon and his team. They'd been professionals with 37 confirmed vampire kills over the course of the year and half they'd spent with Hellsing, and now she was expected to watch over a group of greenhorns who'd never fought one. Sure they'd seen how fast she could move, but they'd never been on the receiving end of a blood crazed beast capable of dodging bullets and ripping a man in half before he even realized he was being attacked. There would be panic, there would be terror, and there would be blood. There always was. But, it came with the territory. Safe guarding Queen and Country from the horrors in the night was a brutal, unforgiving, and thankless task. Their families had no knowledge of how they died, or what they did. Most of the time Hellsing couldn't even return the bodies. The difference between someone who's been torn in half by claws is fairly obvious from someone blown apart by a bomb after all. But, these men did it any way, she had to credit them for that.

They had served in combat zones all around the world. They may not be intimately familiar with vampires, but they knew battle. When it came down to it, they'd rely on their wits, their weapon, and their team. Seras only hoped it would be enough to keep the graveyard on the Hellsing Estate from taking up any more space.

 _"You told Sir Integra you were worried about the men being distracted, but it seems like you're the one who can't focus ma cherie... It's this place, no?"_

 _"I'm fine Pip." She snapped the thought at him as she looked around. -What was that constant buzzing sound? It sounded like a humming bird... But this many at this hour morning? No sense dwelling on it, it had nothing to do with her mission.-_

 _"I think not. This was your home once. This is why Integra was reluctant to tell you about it."_

 _"I said I'm fine. Its just a place. Its just another mission." Even as she thought it though, she found her gaze shifting towards where her home used to be, and to the young girl who'd played cops and robber with her father._

 **Blake**

"Command, this is Paladin-actual, are you seeing this? Over." Blake held up a fist signaling his squad to hold position as he watched the feed from Big Sky.

"Affirmative Paladin-actual, you are to proceed with the mission."

Russian accent. The Commander then.

"Ma'am, it looks like they're heading for the mill. If local forces are in the area we could see friendly fire. Over."

"Captain, we are already contacting the English military, but any hesitation could mean the targets escaping with the captives. Proceed to the objective."

Though he hadn't interacted with her on many occasions, Blake was beginning to see why Stukhov had been chosen for this command. There was an undeniable sense of authority and a steely confidence in her voice.

"Acknowledged Commander, proceeding to the objective."

 **Natalia**

This was the problem with governments. They didn't trust each other. Each nation is always trying to gain the upper hand, regardless of whether the subject is military might, political control, or economic prosperity. The English denied having any troops in the area, but the way these soldiers were moving was text book SAS urban maneuvering. Aside from actually speaking to them there was no way for her men on the ground to contact them, a unit like that would be using encrypted communications, and there was no telling what their frequency was. If her team and these operatives encountered each other at the mill, which seemed ever more likely they might mistake each other for their targets. But she couldn't risk the mission being compromised either. The burdens of this command seemed ready to crush her into the ground. Every day she had to make split second decisions that resulted in collateral damage, dead soldiers, and worse, all on the orders of corrupt governments who would rather focus on protecting their own secrets than setting aside their difference to focus on a common enemy.

As Natalia leaned against the railing of mission control, she couldn't help but look up to the massive holo globe above her head. That was what she and X-COM were defending. Not Russia, not England, not America. The Earth, and all her peoples. She knew her mission, and she knew her men. If the governments of the world wouldn't cooperate, then let what comes lay solely on their bloody hands. She wouldn't let their stubbornness threaten the safety of her people.

Whoever these operatives were, if they threatened the mission, then they would be her enemy as surely as the aliens.


	6. Chapter 5: Doubts

Chapter 5: Doubts

 **Seras**

Seras grew more and more apprehensive about this mission with every step towards the mill. Still, she sensed nothing that would point to a vampiric presence. If that was the case, then this didn't add up. There had been a rash of disappearances, and Gordon's team had been sure they were tracking a nest of the monsters. The possibilities were few and far fetched. Could a vampire hide itself from her? She'd never encountered one that could. Perhaps Alucard, but he had never tried to hide himself in such a manner... It was times like this she missed her master. Though she was no longer a fledgling, by no means did she know the limits of what she or other vampires were capable of. Perhaps Iscariot was laying a trap to finally rid their enemy of their most powerful soldier?

 _"Someone has grown rather fond of herself recently, hasn't she?" The mercenary quipped the moment she finished the thought._

 _"Its the truth Pip, plain and simple. Now keep quiet, I'm just trying to understand whats going on."_

 _"I just thought you should know you were about to walk off into the river. It's none of my business though, I suppose."_

Despite the fact she stopped just shy of falling over the bank, it was easy to notice that her team had seen her near fumble.

-We're supposed to follow her?-

-What is she doing?-

-How's this outfit made it this far with someone like this on the ground?-

Even if she couldn't hear their thoughts, she could see it in the quick glances they through each other as clearly as she could see the rifle in her hands. With a slight shake of her head she signaled them to follow the river down the last hundred yards to the mill.

I can't let that happen again. They depend on me too much to be distracted.

 _"That's it ma cherie, don't worry yourself with what may be. The only thing to worry about when the chips are down is what cards you have. If you worry about the other players, you'll fold every time."_

 _"Did you talk like that before I drank your blood?"_

 _"I've had a lot of time to focus on the finer things in life since getting trapped in your pretty head ma cherie. Now, pay attention. We wouldn't want you getting ambushed would we?" With a final chuckle the voice in Seras's head was gone again._

He was right, as always. Same as he was right earlier about why she was so distracted. Every corner she turned, she saw her mother and father walking just out of reach. Her childhood friends chasing after a ball they'd thrown too far. It was all too much, but she had to push past it. For the sake of the men with her, she had to be at the top of her game.

"Haytham, status?"

"No blood, but there was definitely a struggle. Lots of ammo casings, and some kind of burns all over the room. We sent images back to HQ for analysis. En route to the mill."

"Alright, radio me when you're in position."

Seras held up her fist and gestured for the team to split in pairs once they arrived at the mill. As the Hellsing troops stacked up on the door ready to go in they all pulled specialized gas masks over their faces. The design was based on the UV masks used by the troops of the Letzte Battalion. The optics worked like infrared goggles, but instead picked up UV light allowing the wearer to see using UV emitting lights attached to their weapons. Invisible to most creatures, including vampires, they gave both the element of surprise, as well as a deterrent if the monsters got to close. Unlike the actual sun though, the light did little more than slow the creatures down, and Seras hardly noticed it.

"Victoria, team two is in position."

One final time the soldiers checked their weapons, modified P-90 SMG's which excelled in close quarters combat due to their rapid rate of fire, small profile, and light weight. The P-90 could be brought to bear more quickly than a rifle, and thanks to how compact it was it was difficult to remove from the soldiers grasp. Though the difference was minute, often it was the smallest details that made the difference between killing a vampire or becoming a ghoul. Thanks to both its incredible fire rate of 900 rounds per minute, and the custom silver tipped high velocity rounds, a well aimed spray was nearly impossible to dodge. This thought crossed the minds of all four soldiers before they entered. It was just a simple fact they'd been told during their training. **Nearly impossible to dodge.** It was finally sinking in that they faced an enemy that required such measures to fight. And it showed in the slight tremble in their bodies as Seras held up her left hand, counting down to the entry.

3...

Safeties were switched off.

2...

Charging handles were racked as the men braced themselves for whatever was inside.

1...

Seras's fist closed and Private Brown detonated the breaching charge.

 **Blake**

"Commander, those troops just breached the mill. Orders?" Blake watched the feed as the unknown soldiers pulled on some kind of gas masks and breached the mill from both entrances. They didn't have any lights, the masks must have some kind of NVG's built in.

"Poor bastards.. Sir, aren't we going to do something?" Grant asked as they all waited on the street corner. Initially XCOM had used NVG's for night operations, but switched to standard tactical lights after they realized the problem posed by plasma discharge. A ball of plasma the size of your head would completely overload NVG's, and could cause all manner of permanent eye damage. That is, if you could survive a blind fire fight.

"Not yet. If we come in unannounced we could see possible friendly fire."

His answer was met with grumbling from the rest of the squad, but his hands were tied.

"Proceed Captain. Attempt to avoid contact with those operatives, but the mission is priority. Is that understood?" Commander Stukhov's voice came in over the radio.

"Yes Ma'am. Alright Paladins 1 and 5, on me. 3, get up ontop of that building and cover the street. 6, take 2 and 4, circle around the-"

His orders were interrupted as bursts of weapons fire tore up the night, emanating from the mill as its windows were lit with the tell tale green glow of plasma fire arcing through the air.


	7. Chapter 6: All Hell

A/N: I'd like to thank Deathfrown for the sterling review, and I'll do my best to release frequent updates on the story. The X-COM that I'll be using for this story will be Enemy Within, and they'll be using gear and equipment found in Long War along with a few things I'll be making up to round out the armories of both organizations like Hellsing's UV masks and the "Big Sky" drones that X-COM uses to observe a live feed of their operations. I'd also like to thank you for pointing out the grammar mistakes, when I first started the story it was around 5AM following being up for about 30 hours and I was running on 3 red bulls. I went through the existing chapters and did a few minor updates, hopefully I spotted them all. I know poor grammar can be a turn off to some stories, and I hope that future chapters will have less mistakes, but I am fairly easily distracted and tend to miss small things like that on my read throughs.

Chapter 6: All Hell

 **Haytham**

This wasn't right. Hellsing had been fighting vampires for decades, and from the mission reports he'd read the training and tactics of modern day Hellsing operatives was sound. But these monsters weren't acting as they'd been trained to expect. Following the breach his men had rushed into the main floor. They'd been trained that rapid assaults were the best way to take down vampires. You had to surprise them, be so brazen that they don't know how to react, and you might take them down before they can bring their superior speed and strength to bear. The point men, James and Bishop had done just that. They rushed into the mill immediately spotting two creatures looming over several prisoners on one of the log tracks. They rushed forward as a unit, pouring fire from their P-90s into the creatures before they could react. It had taken quite some time for this part of the training to stick. As special forces operators every one of them had been trained to use accurate, precise semi automatic fire. Ammo conservation, and accuracy were key. But the Hellsing training had drilled into them that this manner of attack was easily dodged by a vampire, but they couldn't possibly avoid a storm of silver filling the air. Even if none of the round pierced their heart or head, it would wound them enough that they could then be safely put down.

Before the thin creatures could react they were riddled with bullets as they crumpled and exploded into a noxious looking black and green smoke that engulfed the area where they died.

"What the he-" Bishop asked as he slowed to a halt in his advance. He never finished his question as a bolt of green light -Was it green? Hard to tell when the masks turned the world violet- flew from the ceiling and hurled him to the ground, smoke billowing from his chest where he'd been hit.

"Take cover!" Haytham bellowed as he tackled James to the ground behind one of the log tracks.

"Victoria, these things are different, and they've got some kind of-" He wasn't able to tell her the rest as another bolt roared by his head. It hadn't hit him, but his hand burned as though it had been held in a fire and he swore as he hurled the melted radio away from him.

"On my mark, suppressing fire, Jennings, with me! We're taking the catwalk!"

Falling back into their previous training the former SAS soldiers darted from cover to cover as their remaining comrades tried to keep their assailant pinned down.

"Shit, how many are there?" "They're too god damn fast!" "They're everywhere, keep firing!" " GAS GAS GAS!"

It was chaos as the men tried to find cover, but their attackers seemed to be flying through the upper levels of the mill, searching for openings to fire down on the surrounded humans. Haytham looked towards Thatcher who'd just been engulfed in a cloud of that smoke after he'd seen one of the creatures spit at the other soldier. The pause gave him the chance to paint it with a burst from his P-90, dropping it the floor where its body exploded on impact. At least we have gas masks he thought as he ducked to reload.

As he stood back up to continue shooting though he heard a choking sound from his right. -That's not possible, I checked the seals myself.- None the less he watched Thatcher claw at his mask, struggling to remove the canisters as he stumbled out of the smoke. Haytham was already up and moving towards him as a volley of green light sailed towards them. The last thing he saw as his vision faded and he felt himself being dragged by his flak jacket was a blonde haired woman flying over his head and tearing the head from one of the enemy.

 **Blake**

There was the sound of broken glass followed by the single report of a rifle as Blake watched a thin man leap from one of the mill's skylights, and was promptly taken down by Spider. Alpha rushed towards the building, his team was moving towards one of the SAS entry points while Smith's team set up a blasting charge to make their own entrance and hopefully catch the aliens off guard. Something wasn't right here though, when the fighting had started the gun fire he was hearing was cyclic, the human soldiers had seemingly been spraying and praying, but after a few moments it dropped down to short steady bursts. A special forces unit like the SAS prided itself on precision and accuracy, not the panicked blast of full auto. None of this operation was making sense, but he couldn't let that distract him. His men needed him to be able to give orders without him trying to muddle through a puzzle.

As he slammed his shoulder into the door he peered inside, but couldn't make out much through the darkness aside from the flashes of weapons fire. Another thing that didn't add up. The weapons fire was the only light inside, but the SAS soldiers seemed to be returning fire with no issues despite the plasma being fired upon them. How were their NVG's working? Even with compensators X-COM personnel had been completely blinded on their first operation with NVG's. To hell with it, if they could see despite the plasma then a flare wouldn't be a problem. He gave the order and as Smith's team blew the south wall, flares sailed inside the building. The SAS troops had pulled back into the storage room on the opposite side of the room and were pinned down by at least a dozen thin men leaping through the rafters and the cat walk above. At that moment he gasped as he saw a blur of movement above. Something swept past one thin-man, then another, then a third as they were ripped in half or decapitated. As suddenly as it appeared, the blur slammed into the wall above him and paused to change direction just long enough for him to see a young girl leap off and towards the next alien.

"Seras?" He heard Smith ask over the radio.

"What was that Smith?"

"I know her, sir, they're Hells-"

"Paladin, fast movers inbound, bearing 30 degrees north by north east." Almost as soon as Watchdog-1 called in over the radio there was the sound of a jet roaring over head and a crashing sound as several large pods tore through the ceiling.

 **Seras**

Seras wasn't sure what they were fighting, but they definitely weren't vampires. Almost as soon as they entered the mill's office area her team had been engulfed in some poison cloud that ate right through the filters in their gas masks. After killing the creatures there she'd been forced to leave the men behind and try to save the rest of the team. They were no where near as fast as vampires, but they seemed able to climb sheer surfaces and leap incredibly well, which was making it difficult to catch and kill.

Haytham seemed to have been able to keep the men together, but half his men were down including himself. The few who were left had dragged their comrades to the storage room, one way in and out. It might buy them enough time for her to clear the rest of these things, and who are these soldiers who just rushed the building? They were shooting at the creatures, so possibly friendlies, but that didn't explai- Her rapid fire thoughts were interrupted as she felt it. Intense hunger, craving, and a lust for blood. There were vampires... Above her? She looked up just as a jet flew low over head and four pods broke through the ceiling. The moment they touched down the doors flew off and vampires charged out and into the fray. What the hell was going on?

 **Natalia**

"Someone talk to me, what the hell is going on out there?" The Commander shouted into her headset as she watched the feed from Big Sky along with the radar imaging from Watch Dogs 1 and 2. A stealth jet had opened its bays long enough to drop something into the mill before it vanished again. Watch Dog 1 was attempting to locate it, but at night and without radar it wasn't likely, and now she saw something that made the thin-men look like snails. This pale woman was seemingly flying all over the mill, firing at whatever targets presented themselves and literally tearing the aliens in two.

"New contacts! 8 hostiles front- The transmission was drowned out by a terrified scream, and a sick ripping sound. That was impossible. Nothing could move that fast, one of those things had just closed 40 meters in less time than it took her to blink and torn Paladin 1's head from his shoulders.

"Command, we need to regroup, we're getting torn apart down here, requesting immediate extract!"

"Standby Paladin-actual, exfil is en route, just hold on Captain!" As the Commander set down the radio she turned towards Bradford.

"How long until Delta is on site? They need more manpower down there."

"3 minutes commander."

"Боже, храни их..." She muttered as she clutched the cross she wore around her neck.

A/N: The last thing Commander Stukhov is saying is "God save them." I'm not quite sure if I occasionally want to include the pronunciation version of her speaking russian, the wriiten words as that there is, or just have her speak English the whole time.


	8. Chapter 7: Pawn Takes Queen

Hey guys (and gals, I'm not sexist), sorry for the long time between updates, been fairly busy lately. Working for the military, and keeping up with everything gets pretty hectic. From now on I'll try to get updates out every 7-10 days, but no promises. On another note, I'd like to thank everyone for the follows, favorites, and support for the story, I've gotten far better feed back than I expected when I first posted the story.

 **Black King**

As two secret organizations were being trounced in some backwater town in the English countryside, three men sat around a table pouring over a series of documents, and sipping from cups of blood red wine. The man at the head of the table, with more salt than pepper in his short well trimmed hair, seemed lost in memories as the other two men went on obliviously about numbers, logistics, and other drivel. It had been a difficult time after the Major's plan had come to fruition. Instead of being handed the keys to England as he'd been promised for his treason, he'd merely been a pawn in a madman's scheme to destroy a monster. Months of planning, for nothing. He'd been forced to kill his most trusted advisers, and many that colleagues that he held a great respect for. He ordered military exercises that placed the vast majority of English military personnel far from London during the attack. He planted vampires in all echelons of command to reek havoc and sow confusion when the zeppelins blotted the sky, and Nazis fell from on high. Again, for nothing. It took all of his cunning, and ruthless efficiency to remove any who knew of his actions, and shield himself from discovery that he might remain in his position of power. It had been difficult, but it had been done. And now, he would be king. 2 years of careful maneuvering. Gathering supplies, and preparing to strike. No longer would he be a pawn in another's grand plan. He would not be a simple musician in the coming symphony of death. No, he would be the conductor, and his masterpiece would cast the Major's pitiful attempt at starting a world war into obscurity. When the coming generations spoke of fear. Of power. Of unrelenting strength. They would speak only of him. And tonight, it began as he readied to take his foe's most valuable piece. The White Queen would be the first piece removed from the board.

 **Blake**

This was bad. Grant and Kern had been killed almost as soon as those pods broke through the roof, and McCarthy was the next as he fired on the creatures only for the next moment to have one rip his throat out. This wasn't right. Nothing could move that fast, not even an alien. It was impossible. Move Blake. Raise your rifle. The thoughts were there. His instincts screamed for him to fight, to protect his people. But he couldn't. His muscles wouldn't listen to his mind. Was he in shock? He'd been injured by grenades. He'd been within 10 meters of mortar and RPG hits. He'd charged into machine gun fire. But this was different. He was terrified. These things weren't killing his men. They were butchering his men. Eating them. Suddenly he couldn't breath, one of them had him by the throat, lifting him from the ground. Snapping to, he pressed his rifle barrel to the thing's stomach and pumped the trigger. Once, twice, three times the rifle reported before the weapon was torn from his hands and tossed aside, but the man was still standing, holding him from the ground with one outstretched arm, with not a speck of blood where the rounds had hit him. The captain strained at the hand grasping him, but he might as well have been trying to pull a vice grip off his throat as the monster's mouth moved towards him, filled with rows of pointed shark like teeth. He could see the blood lust and the hunger in its blood-red eyes as they locked with his own. In defiance he slammed his knee into it over and over, but it hardly noticed. Behind it he could see Smith arm cocked back with a knife ready to throw, but what could he do? This thing wasn't human. No armor would have stopped those rounds at pointblank range, didn't he know that? As he closed his eyes to accept his fate, the grip on his throat vanished, and he could breath again. His nose was filled with the acrid stench of blood, and burned flesh, but to someone on the verge of death every breath is sweet. Smith stood over him, shouting something as he pulled the captain to his feet, but all Blake could see was the silver knife sticking in the creature's chest, putrid smoke snaking across the blade.

 **Seras**

As deadly as they were, the things she'd been fighting didn't compare to vampires, and they were already feasting below her. Snarling, Seras plunged down as a vampire stood posed to kill one of the men who'd breached the side of the mill, slicing her shadow arm through it from head to waste and leaving it as nothing more than a pile of gore. The Irishman she'd saved fumbled to get his machine gun up, not even having seen the thing coming, but Seras was already on to the next one. Sensing her presence they all turned towards her, baring their fangs as they charged. 6? There were 8, and she'd only killed 1- there's the other, by the entrance, it lay with a silver knife in its back? No time to think now, it was time for the hunt. For the kill. She couldn't help but smile as they came on. Faster than the human eye could follow, but they might as well have been stagnant to her. This would be easy- wait what? her head snapped to the side as one smashed its fist into her temple, if she'd been human that would have sent her head clean through the wall, but as it was it only pissed her off. As the vampire swung again she caught its wrist and spun, pressing her forearm into it's upper arm as she did so and drove it to the ground. For a human this was a submission move, but she pressed her knee into his head as she cranked on its arm until with a satisfying crunch the skull caved and the arm came loose at the shoulder. The next freak arrived just in time as she stood up swinging the dismembered limb, knocking the charging vampire into one of its companions. As she felt her blackened heart thrumming in her chest calling for fresh blood to satiate the ever present hunger, and the euphoria of the kill filled her from head to toe she surged towards the three still on their feet. Instead of fighting her all at once two dropped back as the third stepped forward to meet her, a woman, her hair fiery red to match the bloody crimson of her eyes. Idiots, they didn't stand a chance fighting her together, it would be a slaughter alone.

 _"Careful ma cherie, this feels familiar."_

She didn't bother responding, there was no point. This fledgling was nothing to her, a daughter of the No-Life King, a Draculina. She leaped into the air, closing the remaining distance as her fist arced forward to claim the heart of this monster. Then she stopped. The woman had caught her fist, and hadn't been broken in half. How was she-? There. Her third eye saw it now, faint violet chains connecting this one to the other two, no the other four. They were all channeling something into the woman, and it was making her stronger. Seras didn't give the other vampire the chance to counter her, she swept her foot out as she shifted her hip against the freak to off-balance it before hurling her to the ground. In one fluid motion Seras followed her prey to the ground to pin her and finish the fight quickly, but the vampire was gone before she even hit the ground.

 _"The others ma cherie! You need to kill them first!"_

 _"I have this Pip, I can kill her no matter how strong she thinks she is."_

Seras sensed the kick coming before it connected and leaped into the air as her foe flew underneath her, and then the two were locked, trading blow after blow, in an untraceable blur their punches and kicks were each carefully deflected and dodged. Not even Seras' shadow arm could land a hit as the fiery haired woman dodged every swipe. This close to each other, Seras could see more details of the young woman, poor thing had been taken, probably as young as Seras had been. It didn't matter, that young soft featured face was sharply accented with razor teeth, and the bloody crimson eyes of the damned. Then a jab got through.

Seras leaped back as she looked down to see where the vampire's claws had sliced her leg. No matter, she may have first blood but Seras would have her head. Without another thought Seras surged forward, but now it seemed as though the red haired woman was toying with her. Her attacks were half-hearted, and her blocks always came at the last possible moment. How could any of them be this strong? As this doubt entered her mind Seras felt another wound open, then another. The bitch was getting past her, she was moving to fast, and her wounds weren't healing. She felt her limbs growing heavier with each swing as her blood covered the floor.

 _"Ma cherie, we need to do something now! Let me do this"_

 _"No, you remember York."_

 _"This is different, we know better now, we have trained, and you're losing this fight."_

 _"No Pip, I have this!"_

 _"Seras, if you die, I die! Let's do this together!"_

That jarred her. He used her name instead of his ridiculous pet name for her. He was right, of course he was, she'd let her pride take over. She was more like her master every day, and it was going to the end of her. She steeled herself as she rose from her knees to stand again.

"I was led to believe so many things about you Miss Victoria. It's quite a shame, I was looking forward to this for a while now, but you're just another of life's grand disappointments." The voice of her adversary was strong, but soft. She sounded confident, prideful, and supremely bored, but most of all far far to young.

"I'm not out yet." Seras spat as she stepped forward. "You can still surrender, I promise I'll make it quick."

"Oh my, thats rich. Look at you. You're bleeding from two dozen wounds, and they don't seem to be healing. I wonder why that is? Must not be as strong or fast as the stories said hmm? No wonder a fat man and a few Nazi freaks were able to kill your master if he was anything like you. Now, you should probably just lay down and die, I don't think you'll want to see what we do to your friends."

Seras had heard enough, she wouldn't let any more people be hurt if she could stop it. As she dropped back to the ground she sent her tenebrous arm into the floor of the building, and the shadows expanded as Pip raced through her and into the entirety of the mill.

"What the- Whats going on? How are you doing that! I said DIE!" Seras only smiled as the woman charged her, fist high over head as shadows wrapped around her and every vampire and creature still moving. The red haired freak powered through, but as her power grasped the others she ended them. Shadowy spikes pierced their hearts, cut their throats, crushed their skulls, and ended their pathetic lives. As each vampire died there was some kind of back lash, the mental chains that bound them rebounded on her foe, and she watched as the woman seemed to be struck by some invisible hammer that hurled her away. Seras stood, ready to call Pip back into her as she felt a burning sensation in her back, and she was falling. She couldn't see? Why couldn't she see? Then there was a single light. There was Pip, leaning against a wall, smoke billowing from his chest and back. So she was in her own head, but still could only crawl to him.

 _"What did I say ma cherie, this was familiar, no? I'm afraid I don't have any more blood for you this time." He laughed weakly as he held a cigarette to his lips and lit it._

 _"Didn't I tell you not to smoke inside me?" She asked as everything went dark._


	9. Chapter 8: Collateral Damage

A/N: Sooooooo, been a hot minute since I was around, and I know I said I'd be updating every week, buuuut that obviously didn't happen. I appreciate all the reviews and comments, as well as the favorites and follows, and those are the main reason I got myself back into it after so long. Life hit me like a ton of bricks (nothing bad, just uber busy) but I got some more free time now, so should (fingers crossed) update sooner than 3 months apart lol. Enjoy everyone.

 **Blake**

This entire operation was wrong. At least 3 of his people were dead. No, not dead. Mutilated. Ripped limb from limb. Devoured by those things. They dodged bullets. None of this made any sense. Then there was that woman, dressed in red. She killed every one of them with... What even was that? One moment everything went black, like liquid shadows were streaming from her hand, then the next the monsters were dead. There was Smith, shouting at them to move before catching a stray shot. One of the Brits was dragging him by his flak jacket. The Englishmen had their wounded and were running beside them. Vincent was carrying Kayla, but there was so much blood. What am I doing? I should be leading them. But here I am. Lost. The girl. She'd saved them. If it hadn't been for her then they'd all be piles of bloody meat like the rest of his men. They didn't have enough body between them to put in the ground, but something could be done for her. Mechanically he lifted her up over his shoulder, and took off after the rest of those fleeing the mill. He'd dragged 200 pound Marines in full kit out of blazing HMMV's, this girl was maybe as heavy as his hiking pack back home. That's what it was. Facts. Simple rational information. Things he knew were real. Tangible. Not like that. Not like those things. They were nightmares. Creatures out of fantasy, or science fiction. Monsters. He needed concrete things. Something to anchor himself to sanity before he laughed his way straight to the loony bin. With that thought he put one foot in front of the other as he could hear the familiar rumble of the skyranger's engines in the distance.

 **Natalia**

"Commander, the skyrangers have touched down and the extraction is underway. The British forces are pulling out with us. Both forces have sustained heavy casualties, and there are wounded on board." Bradford reported.

"Bring them back Bradford. Watchdog's 1 and 2, fall in to defensive-"

On screen she watched the blip marking Watchdog 1 diving towards the town.

"Watchdog 1, return to escort position." She spoke tersely into the mic. after several seconds there was ne response.

"Watchdog 1, do you copy?" "Pilot, report!"

The command room was silent as it pulled up, a pair of missiles appearing on the tracker heading straight for the mill.

"Authorization code confirmed, package is away command." Came over the radio as a firestorm engulfed the mill and several of the surrounding blocks.

The only sound that could be heard was the headset clattering to the floor as a council message came in on the main channel.

 **Black King**

"This just in, an explosion in the old town district of Cheddar rocks the community as emergency services attempt to control the blaze. Early reports state that 4 blocks surrounding an abandoned mill on the riverside have caught fire following an explosion of unknown origins. Some witnesses report hearing automatic weapons fire in the minutes preceding the explosion, but authorities state that it is too early in the investigation to begin forming theories." The news reporter driveled on for a few more minutes before the television was turned off.

The board room was silent as all eyes were upon him. A dozen sycophants sat around the table, with him at the head. Each of them waited to see a response from him so they could decide the proper way to kiss his ass. He simply drummed his fingers on the oaken table as he looked into the flames dancing in the hearth. He could see the sweat beading their brows. He could see the way they fidgeted. It brought the smallest smile to his lips. He reached down to open his cigar box as he held the end in the fireplace to light it.

"Make preparations to initiate phase 2."

The relief was tangible about the room as those assembled hastily gathered their papers and files and hurried to their assigned tasks. They would need to move quickly. Stukhov was no fool. She was one of the most brilliant military minds in the world. She would be moving quickly to find answers, and he would need to ensure that her own investigations and actions condemned her. One word from the council, and XCOM would belong to him.

 **Integra**

Integra was furious. 3 cigars lay in pieces on the floor of her study, and the contents of her desk lay in a pile to the side. Moments like this were when she missed Walter the most. His steadfast presence through her entire life had been something she relied on so heavily. Moments like this were when she needed Alucard. Her servant who had been at her beck and call since that day she found him in the cursed cellar. Both of them had been stolen away on the same day by that madman's vision. Now, the closest thing she had to a friend was no where to be found, her men were unable to respond to hails, and Cheddar where they had been sent was burning to the ground as she trod back and forth in her office. Looking out her window upon the manor grounds, the moon glowed full and orange over head, casting a foul glow on the English countryside. Something was brewing. Some plot was underway. She could feel it in her bones, deep in the foundation of her soul. Something that would cast aside the horror of the so called "Anglo-American Incident" and bring about an era of blood and terror. For the first time in her life since the day her uncle tried to kill her, she felt it. That which she had banished away the moment Alucard had drank her blood. Even as London had burned around her, and it seemed as though the world would be consumed in the fires of war, she had been stoic. She had been resolute. She trusted in her unbending will, and in the absolute power of Alucard. but now, her heart fluttered. It clawed at her from all sides. It stalked her in every shadow around every corner. The cold, icy grip of fear.


	10. Chapter 9: Picking up the Pieces

A/N: Wellp, twoish years, and we're back from the dead. I'd lost my story notes, and basically dropped it, but a couple of meddler's brought it up, and reminded me of it, and here we are again. The chapter name rather fits I think.

 **BLAKE**

The gunfire had ceased, replaced with the sound of wailing sirens and the roar of the inferno engulfing the warehouses along the river front. Alan looked to his left and right as the battered soldiers doggedly ran on, one foot in front of the other. Though, running might not be the right word. Some limped, while the dead and wounded they'd been able to recover were carried between them. And the wounded far outnumbered the able. With no signs of pursuit he called a halt within a small city park, taking refuge within the concealment of a garden ringed in a large stone fence and radioed for pickup from the Skyranger. No need to transmit coordinates with Big Sky operational.

For the first time since the panicked retreat from the mill, he realized that the British troops were with them as well. While a few able bodied soldiers took up defensive positions around the vulnerable position the remainder set about triaging the wounded. Setting down the girl who'd saved them, he grunted in frustration seeing the injury. A smoking whole had been blown clean through the center of her back and out the front of her chest. Regardless of what she was, she'd have died instantly from the shock alone. Closing her crimson eyes, he moved on to take accountability of the survivors.

"Who do we still have?" he asked, the pain evident in his voice.

"No sign o' Grant, an' Smith n' Kayla are both out, but they should live." Vincent rumbled, his deep voice not betraying his shock at the brutality they'd all witnessed.

"Kern and McCarthy both ate it." He continued, while applying bandages to his wife's wounds. "Sander's an' 'is boys are alright though. They're en route now."

"Make sure they're stable, the Skyranger will be here soon." Blake said as he moved over to the SAS operatives tending to their own wounded.

"I'm Captain Blake" he announced as he approached, purposely withholding his affiliations. "Who's in charge here?"

"That'd be me. Corporal Wilder." Replied one of the troopers, removing his mask and holding out his hand. "Sure glad you yanks came along when you did, those freaks were better prepared than we thought."

"Freaks? You knew you weren't up against humans?" Blake asked, taken aback.

"What? You think we were busting a drug ring or something? Of course we knew. Question is, what are Americans doing operating in England?"

Blake paused for a moment, his mind racing at the implications. If the English were conducting their own operations against the invasion without coordination with XCOM, they lacked faith in the organization.

"Classified. All you need to know is that we have authorization to act across international borders. We'll need to get this mess sorted out. Once our exfil arrives we'll be bringing you with us for debrief and medical attention."

"Suit yourself" Wilder answered candidly. "Orders is orders after all."

"You're coming that easily?"

"Aye, if you wanted us dead, you'd have left us back at the mill. This way at least we might know what the bloody hell is going on."

Seeing the jovial manner, and the stoicism of the troopers before him, Alan couldn't keep from shaking his head as turned back towards his own squad. The brits were some crazy bastards, alright.

 **NATALIA**

Natalia rubbed her temples as the morning's events raced through her mind. Everything had gone wrong, several of her people were dead, the abductees had presumably been killed, a good portion of an English town was on fire, and somehow, one of her pilots had been given false authorization codes to conduct an air strike. There were too many moving pieces here, and none of them made sense. She was missing some piece of this puzzle, and there was very little time to find it. The council was already demanding answers, and threatening to dismantle the project. A missile strike into a densely populated area? How was this going to be justified? And if it was foul play, how could it have been allowed to happen? How lax were their security measures? All these questions and more had already been asked of her following the initial brief with the council. And yet, none of them had been able to answer her one question as to who those British troops at the mill were. It was too convenient, one way or another, they were involved, and hell or high water she would know how. Sighing as she looked down, it took her a few moments to register that she was bleeding. In her frustration she had crushed the glass in her hand, covering her desk in broken shards, and a mixture of blood and alcohol.

"Between my head and my body, at least something knows it's too early to drink." She chuckled to herself as she began cleaning the mess.

 **SERAS**

Seras walked alone along an empty street flanked by nothing but swirling shadows.

"Pip? Haytham? Anyone, can you hear me?" She called out into the darkness, just as the last dozen times though, there was no response.

"What happened? Where am I?" She mused to herself, clasping her arms to her chest, suppressing a shiver.

" _Isn't it obvious?"_

The voice seemed to come from inside her head, and this was only reinforced as she wheeled around and around, seeing nothing in the inky darkness.

"Who's there? Where are you?" She demanded, trying to sound braver than she felt.

 _"Come now, Police Girl, I taught you better than that."_

"Ma... Master? Master is that you? How is that possible!?"

 _"Think Police Girl, what are you? Look around. You walk through the shadows, as though they might devour you. You think like a human." The last word ended with a characteristic, disdainful sneer. "Do you need a reminder of what that means?"_

"But Master, I don't know what's happening!" She cried into the nothingness, as she saw the street falling away in all directions, leaving her precariously standing on a small circle of light, completely surrounded. She began to breath rapidly, and felt a painful hammering in her chest, something she'd not felt in years. Every where she turned, the darkness got closer, and closer, and she felt smaller and smaller before the void. Suddenly, even her small space grew dim, and shadowy, broken up by small beams of light. She was in a closet, eye level with the doorknob, pressed against coats, and standing on an over turned shoe rack. With an ache in her chest she knew where she was. She was home, on the last day she ever had a home.


	11. Chapter 10: Terror of the Night

**A/N:** Anyone familiar with Hellsing, knows the fate of Seras' parents, and how fucked that situation was. Well, this is like that, if you take the most horrible thing you can imagine, and multiply it by cancer. As such, the rating will be going up accordingly. The next few chapters will be solely centered around Seras, and Alucard's absentee father method of throw the kid into the deep end until they learn to swim. Or drown. Same difference. On a separate note, given a general disinterest in my usual hobbies, I've compiled notes for a good portion of the next several chapters, so might see a few in relatively quick succession, but my track record on this matter is less than sterling. So you know, what happens, happens.

 **SERAS**

Why was she seeing this. This was a memory. A nightmare. It never should have happened. This moment. This tragedy. This was where her life spiraled out of control. Six fucking years old, and her life was turned upside down. Rage and terror swirled through her. Tears coated her face, and her heart felt like it was hammering her chest apart. This wasn't fair, why did she have to live through this again? As helplessly as the last time, she watched through the slats of the closet door. Watched as her father lay slumped against the wall, and her mother lay on her back in a pool of blood. She watched while the two murderers joked about the ordeal, and whether or not it was rape if the broad was dead.

"After all" one smirked fumbling with his belt. "She's still warm."

"You're one sick fuck, you know that? Geez, just make it quick. Don't want no one to see us leave." The second one said as he began shoving valuables into a back pack.

As he was about to move to the next room, he paused for a moment turning back to his companion. "Hey Mike, didn't the bloke have a kid?"

The mongrel rutting atop the dead woman stopped for a moment as realization struck. There might still be a witness lurking about.

Mike hoisted his pants back up, and the hit men started scanning their surroundings with their hand guns at the ready. Seras clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle her panicked breathing while her other hand clutched at her stomach where the horrible ache of the gunshot twisted her insides. They hadn't fired yet, but she remembered that agony. Better for them to move on than to feel that again. As she watched, they went to seperate sides of the room until they were out of her line of sight. She heard the creak of the stairs, and the opening of the kitchen door. She sighed and relaxed a little at the realization they had left the room, and sat down so she wouldn't have to look at her mother's half naked corpse.

-Just wait a little longer Seras. Freddie will be walking through the door any minute to check on dad. He'll kill the murderers just like he did 15 years ago. You don't need to run out there. You don't need to fight them. You don't need to get shot. If you had just waited, it never would have happened.- She rocked back and forth, holding her knees to her chest as she tried to reassure herself that everything would be fine. -Besides, this is all a bad dream. A memory. You'll wake up soon, and it'll be in the past where it belongs. Nothing can stop you in the real world. Nothing. There, you're powerful. There you're untouchable. There, you're a monster.-

With the report of another hand gun, she jumped, startled out of her mental trance. Her lips curved into a smile, It must have been Freddie killing the one in the kitchen!

"Shit, Mike we got another dead bloke over here!"

Those simple words snapped the last vestige of hope holding her together.

 _"Have you learned nothing, Police Girl? Have you ignored everything I taught you?"_

Though tears blurred her vision, she looked up into the amber glasses, and the deathly pale face of her Master. Alucard. There was no mistaking him. She floated in a void, there was nothing but her, and the No-Life King. The outstretched arms of his red coat seamed to engulf everything in sight, his hands closing in like the bars of a cage. His wide brimmed hat drooped low over his head as he loomed above her.

 _"I gave you everything. I saved you from this pathetic creature, and this is how you repay me? This what my investment has yielded?"_

"But, Master!? I'm a child! What am I meant to do?" She cried out, her fear of discovery drowned by the terror of the monster before her.

 _"If you do not know the answer, then you are worthless."_

Once more in the closet, she looked up to Alucard who stood for several moments glaring at her through her pitiful reflection in his glasses. With an insidious smirk he stared into her eyes as he slowly rapped his knuckles on the wall. Seras shook her head in denial, tears blurring her sight as she crawled backwards, wishing with everything she had to melt into the shadows. When she wiped her face, Alucard was gone.

"You hear that Caleb? Sounded like it came from the living room."

Scooting into the corner, Seras could only look on in hooror as the door knob of the closet jiggled, and she was staring down the barrel of that gun again. The muzzle flashed, while the wall behind her was painted red, and the world went black.

The world was coming to her in flashes. Red tinged, agony filled flashes. Her hair was wet and sticky. her shirt stuck to her back, as she was dragged out of the closet through the slickness of her own blood. There were the murders above her.

"We should go, already killed more than we was paid for." The lanky one said, looking over his shoulder. from the floor she could see Freddie's brown leather oxfords in the kitchen, stained with red drops.

"Aye, but where's fun in that." Mike remarked, laughing manicly. "Might as well make the set."

"I've had it with your shit mate, you do what you want, I'm getting out of here. If you ain't rotting in a cell tonight, getting shivved for this I'll meet you at Earnie's place."

She watched the other man walk out through the kitchen, taking the time to untie Freddie's shoes and carry them out with him. She blacked out again, and again, but everytime she came to, there was that horrible weight. Her clothes were gone. There was nothing in her small, small world but pressure, and pain.

A sharp bounce jolted her awake. Panicking, Seras flailed about, clutching at her chest, and stomach. Strong hands grabbed hold of her wrists, and her panick grew, as a scream tore out of her throat.

"Kit, calm down! It's me damnit, its Jack!"

Finally, she could see again, as she looked around the crowded troop compartment of the D-11 transport. There they all were, Jack, Eugene, Donnovan, all her D-11 squad mates.

"I'm sorry... Bad dream..." She looked around nervously. It couldn't have been a dream. 2 years? Alucard? Hellsing? No, this was another memory. She reached up to her neck, but the two pinholes were absent. Were they there in the last memory? Was her arm still that of a mortal? Her temples ached as she fought to control herself. She was about to start hyper ventilating, and she couldn't do that around all her old friends.

"Its just nerves. Too many unknowns about this mission." Jack said as he patted her helmeted head. "Dont worry though, you got all of us here."

"Yeah, nothing's happening to our Kitten." Donovan laughed, as the light headed banter broke the uneasiness of the tense ride.

"Yeah... Nothing's going to happen to anyone." Seras said woodenly as she looked out the window at a passing sign.

 **Welcome to Cheddar**

In the distance she saw the hill top, and the dilapidated parish. The nightmare hadn't ended. It had only begun.


End file.
